Nominations called for Eastern Province Council elections

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 March 2008, 00:12 GMT]Representatives of political parties and independent groups have intensified political activities and have taken steps to choose potential candidates after the Elections Department called nominations for the forthcoming Provincial Council elections in the East, sources said. Elections are to be held for the three districts in the east- Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ampaa’rai, but Dayanantha Dissanayake, the Elections Commissioner (EC), has not yet fixed the date of the elections.

Meanwhile, a number of local political figures from the three communities in the region have started submitting their applications to the various political groups to be considered as candidates for the election to be held in Batticaloa, Ampaa’rai and Trincomalee districts.

The last elections in North and East were held 19 November 1988 and Varatharajaperumaal was appointed Chief Minister. However, the provincial council was dissolved before the expiry of his term of office.

A number of Sinhala political parties including Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), and National Development Front (NDF) have decided to field their candidates and have already begun to make initial arrangements.

Meanwhile, the Election Commissioner also announced that if any of the Internally Displaced People (IDPS) in the province wish to cast their votes in the forthcoming elections, they should forward their applications to his office within a week.

If any of the voters already registered within the administrative area of the Eastern Provincial council fear for their safety in casting their votes in their usual polling stations they may obtain permission to vote in their present areas of residence, EC announced.

Only those registered in 2006 Electors List and certified on 30 May 2007 have the above privilege, and they should complete an application form, get the form certified by the Grama Sevaka (Village level administrator) in their area, and mail it to the office of the EC addressed to Elections Commissioner, Elections secretariat, Sarana Maawaththa, Rajajgiriya within one week from 13 March, according to EC's instructions.

Meanwhile, Tissa Attanayake, General Secretary of United National Party (UNP) said that a decision will be made Tuesday regarding contesting the elections. Mr.Attanayake also has challenged the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to conduct a nation wide general election instead of squandering the resources of Sri Lanka.